Subject: Pink Eggs?
Location: Northeast Florida, riverside
August 6, 2014 11:03 am
Hello there,
My kids and I were examining a bald cypress at a local park last week, checking out the neat cones and leaves, when we noticed many of these pink pods randomly distributed all over the leaves. I’ve searched far and wide, but haven’t figured out what they are. Are they even bug eggs? I only figured they were because no readings on cypress trees mention any growths like these, and they were so randomly placed.
Thank you so much!
Signature: Alana

Probably Galls on Cypress

Dear Alana,
Your request has been on our back burner for a few days while we have attempted an identification. Though these are not theoretically insect eggs, we do believe they are Galls. Galls are growths on plants that are often caused by insects (mainly Gall Wasps and certain types of Flies and Moths) or Mites, but sometimes they are caused by viruses or other means. Galls can form on any part of the plant, but are most common on leaves and twigs, but roots, stems and other parts of plants are not exempt. See Texas A&M AgriLIFE Extension for some general information on Galls. Your Galls look nothing like the Cypress Twig Gall Midge pictured on Featured Creatures, but there are probably thousands of different types of Galls that are found on oak trees.Your Galls are also different from the Cypress Gall Midges pictured on BugGuide.Perhaps one of our readers will have better luck identifying the Galls you found on the cypress in your park.

Subject: Please help identifying this little guy
Location: Hong Kong
August 4, 2014 5:13 am
Hi, I was riding on a train and suddenly I felt something landed on the back of my neck. I reached back and felt something like a bug sitting on my back collar.
Anyway, I waited to get off the train and took my top… and I found this little guy on my collar.
I am really curious about what this is.
I would be most grateful if you could help me identifying this little guy.
Location: Hong Kong. Time of the year: August.
Thanks!
Signature: Randy

Longicorn

Hi Randy,
This is a Longhorned Borer Beetle or Longicorn in the family Cerambycidae. We will attempt to identify the species for you.

Subject: microlep?
Location: Midland, MI
July 17, 2014 6:47 am
Hi bug man,
I’m stumped! I have a microlep that I am struggling to ID. A homeowner recently dropped this moth off as one captured from her yard. She indicated this spring much of their ground cover and other assorted plants were being eaten by caterpillars, and suspects this moth as the adult.
This is not a critter I am familiar with. I also have to admit that these tiny moths are my least favorite thing to ID! Is this in the family prodoxidae?
I am also curious as to what to tell this lady… “this is a small moth. it’s a species I am not familiar with as there are thousands of tiny moths in Michigan that are no fun to key out. This species isn’t one that we see as a common insect pest, and chances are it is probably not polyphagous– eating so many different kinds of plants in your yard. It’s hard to help you ID caterpillars from months ago without seeing them nor knowing what KIND of plants they were eating.”
For fun and unrelated, I am sharing a photo of hatching cecropia eggs that I took yesterday 🙂
Signature: Elly

Unknown Microlepidoptera

Dear Elly,
We agree with you fully that identifying Microlepidoptera is not easy, and we might spend hours on this and still be unsuccessful. Your letter did not indicate why you are the point person for this identification, so we can only surmise that your work for a nursery, an extermination company or perhaps a museum. We are posting your images and we hope that one day there might be an answer. We suspect this moth is not related to the caterpillars that are feeding on the woman’s plants. The hatching Cecropia Caterpillar will get its own posting.

Subject: Lycaenidae Butterfly
Location: Grete, Greece
July 4, 2014 1:47 pm
Dear “what’s the bug”
I have been for a long time trying to identify this butterfly. I tend to believe that it is a common blue (Polyommatus icarus) but I am not sure, because the spots are not that clear. Could you please help me identify it? It was photographed in the island of Crete, Greece in 16 March 2013. The habitat was brushwood under heavy grazing pressure.
Thanks a lot in advance
Signature: Thanasis

Blue

Dear Thanasis,
Blues are a very difficult group for us to identity, but we are posting your images and we will do the research. Meanwhile, perhaps one of our readers who is more familiar with the Lycaean Blues will write in and assist in the identification.

Grecian Blue

Dear Daniel Marlos,
thank you very much for your immediate reply. I’m grateful for your help, and I hope that there will be a solution (it’s been more than a year that a have not succeeded to ID this butterfly.)
Best Regards,
Thanasis

Hi again Thanasis,
Many times we get comments that identify a species from long ago in our archives, and we are no longer able to contact the person who submitted the request, so we would advise you to place a comment on the posting to connect you to people who may write in in the future.

Subject: Ichneumon in Pacific Northwest
Location: Lacey, Washington (Southwestern Washington )
June 30, 2014 6:33 pm
Hello,
I used whatsthatbug.com to identify some new visitors to my front yard. After finding in your 2008 archives what appears to be the same wasp as I have, I would like to share some photos with you to share if you wish.
Signature: Lisa

Subject: Wasp ?
Location: Victoria BC Canada
June 26, 2014 10:13 pm
I have a group of these flying around one section of my property. They look like wasps, but are much thinner and longer. They hover low to the ground, seeming to fly in circles, and dont seem to be going to a ‘ nest ‘ that I can see. They also do not seem to be aggressive like the other pesky wasps…yet. They have been hovering in the same area now for just about a week
Are these a threat to my Pets, and what are the advantages / disadvantages to them and how do I get rid of them.
Thanks
Signature: Randie Ruckle

Ichneumon

Dear Randie,
In 2008, we posted some images that were identified as Ichneumons, members of a family of wasps that parasitize other insects and sometimes other arthropods, but as it is a very large family, we never drilled down to the species level. Recently there has been a flurry of comments from the Pacific Northwest to that posting including reports of stings or bites, and since you have provided us with new images, we have decided to see if we are able to properly identify this Ichneumon and provide any relevant information.This may take some time, but we will work on it. Your Ichneumons seem to resemble members of the tribe Ichneumonini based on BugGuide images, but they might be in a different tribe. BugGuide states: “About 5,000 described species in North America, possibly 3,000 more undescribed; arguably, the largest animal family, with the estimated 60,000 species worldwide (up to 100,000, according to some estimates,” and they do have an extensive archive of Ichneumons. Pouring through it will take some time. If the information we have provided leads you to an identification before we get back to you, please give us an update.

Ichneumon

Update: We did locate a matching image on Island Nature devoted to Vancouver Island, but it is not identified.

Thanks so much for the info.
I think my concern is there are alot of them in that section. I would say about 50 at least, all hovering ( flying ) just about ground level. From what I have read in Wiki, they ae supposed to be solitary. There does not seem to be a ” nest ” that I can see them going to. The area is about 10 x 20 feet, give or take, that they are congregating in. I dont really want a group of stinging insects around with my 2 19 year old dogs and my indoor/outdoor cat.
Thanks again. Any info is great !
R